If Peter Sagal’s idea was to get people stirred up in discussions about the U.S. Constitution — and let’s hope it was — it’s working. Sagal is promoting his soon-to-air PBS special on the Constitution and stopped by Politico for a fascinating discussion about the document and the documentary.

He points out, for example, that the Constitution is changing by our willingness to view it in context of the times. If segregation, for example, was unconstitutional when it was struck down, in theory it was unconstitutional when it was fully ratified in 1790.

It’s a great conversation worth taking the time to watch.

But Sagal seemed stunned by the reaction to the interview. Specifically this:

“I’ve been calling it the Tinkerbell of national charters because Tinkerbell only lives if you clap, right? Or if you say, ‘I do believe in fairies, I do!’ It’s like this: ‘I do believe in civics, I do!’ And everybody believes in it, and we move on. And it’s an amazing phenomenon.”

“A very ‘NPR’ kind of attitude is apparent,” Larry O’Connor of Breitbart said.

The national dialogue that Sagal’s program is sparking, sounds very much like the accounts of the Constitutional Convention itself. It’ll be a rowdy and ugly discussion, and we won’t be worse off for having it.

About the blogger

Bob Collins has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, emigrating to Minnesota from Massachusetts. He was senior editor of news in the ’90s, ran MPR’s political unit, created the MPR News regional website, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started the two most popular blogs in the history of MPR and every day laments that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.

NewsCut is a blog featuring observations about the news. It provides a forum for an online discussion and debate about events that might not typically make the front page. NewsCut posts are not news stories but reflections , observations, and debate.

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The Constitution of the United States of America is worth as much as toilet paper! Take the 4th amendment for example. We the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. But when our 4th amendment right are violated such as mine the violator hide behind governmental immunity. I was arrested without probable cause, sat in jail for 5 days while my mug shot and name where distributed to newspapers and television stations worldwide. My apartment was destroyed by vigilante police searches to the point it is now deemed uninhabitable. i was forced from my apartment as well as the town in which I called home. I lost my job as well as forced from my college classes due to my inability to concentrate on what I needed to do in class. I have been given a blackeye in the public view which has cost me my pride, my dignity, my self respect, and has left me and my family in financial ruins. I have nothing left. I’m a shell of the man that I once was. I can’t even get an apology let alone help in making right, from the people responsible for doing me so wrong!